KC Dodgers

Kyle Chapman PONY-14 wins District 1 championship undefeated & wins Section 3 championship undefeated. Kyle Chapman earned the right to advance to the Region tournament in Port Neches by defeating League City 7-2 Tuesday night in the championship game. This team has now won six straight games in PONY tournament play by scores of 6-1, 12-1, 16-1, 13-1, 3-0, and 7-2. They have outscored the opposition 57-6. Their hitting has been outstanding with the entire lineup contributing. Their fielding has been flawless with very few mistakes. The few errors they have made have come on throwing errors and not fielding errors. Every single player in the lineup is an excellent defensive player, and to single any player out for special praise would be futile. One player, however, has impressed everyone that has seen the games, and has been a huge reason for the success of the KC pitching staff. That player is catcher Nick Wills. From watching him handle the pitchers, you would never know that he hasn’t been catching his entire baseball years. It is easy to see that Nick has the confidence of all the KC pitchers. It is very rare that a ball gets by him, and the pitchers aren’t afraid to throw pitches that are difficult to catch. Ross Haggard is battle tested and leads a very talented pitching staff. It is gratifying to see so many KC fans at the games, …especially those from years past. After League City scored one run in the top of the first, Braylon Moore walked to open the KC first inning. He promptly stole second base, and scored on two errant throws to tie the game. With the score tied 1-1, Alex Atherton clubbed a long 3-run homerun over the left field fence to give KC all they needed to win the game. KC added three more runs in the sixth inning to ice the victory. Gilmore started pitching for KC and pitched 2.1 innings allowing 1 run, 5 hits, walking 1, and striking out 4. Gould pitched 4.2 innings allowing 1 run, 1 hit, walking 1, and striking out 9 including the last 4 batters he faced. Leading hitters for KC were Atherton and Swindell with both going 2 for 3. Silberman, Gould, Marshall, Gilmore, and Redding each had 1 hit. RBI leaders for KC were Atherton with 3, and Swindell, Silberman, and Gilmore with 1 each. Inning By Inning Recap: LC 1st Inning: Latulippe is called out on strikes; Salinas singles to left field and goes to second base on an error by Gilmore attempting to pick him off first base; Brown swings at a bad pitch for a strike out, but has to be thrown out at first base; Birkenseler is safe on an infield single scoring Salinas; Birkenseler steals second base; Gamble grounds out Gould to Gilmore. 1 RUN, 2 HITS, 1 ERROR, 1 LOB. KC 1st Inning: Moore walks and steals second base on the first pitch to Swindell; the shortstop throws the ball back to the pitcher who doesn’t catch it, and Moore takes third; the catcher makes a bad throw to third and Moore comes home to tie the score 1-1; Swindell walks; Atherton hits a line shot to shortstop and Swindell is doubled off first base; Silberman grounds out third to first. 1 RUN, 0 HITS, 2 ERRORS, 0 LOB. LC 2nd Inning: Eads singles to left; Benevides walks; Rouse sacrifices Gilmore to Swindell covering first; Sanders pinch hits for Appfel and strikes out; Latulippe grounds out short to first with Marshall making an excellent play. 0 RUNS, 1 HIT, 0 ERRORS, 2 LOB. KC 2nd Inning: Gould grounds out short to first; Wills walks; Marshall lines a ball back to the pitcher doubling Wills off first base. 0 RUNS, 0 HITS, 0 ERRORS, 0 LOB. LC 3rd Inning: Salinas strikes out; Brown singles to right field; Birkenseler singles to left field; Gould comes in to pitch for KC; Gamble is called out on strikes; Eads strikes out swinging. 0 RUNS, 2 HITS, 0 ERRORS, 2 LOB. KC 3rd Inning: Haggard grounds out third to first; Redding singles sharply to left field; Schneider pinch runs for Redding; Moore strikes out; Swindell singles to left field with Schneider stopping at second base; Atherton hits a homerun over the left field fence giving KC a 4-1 lead with Schneider and Swindell scoring ahead of him; Silberman walks; Gould singles to left field; Wills grounds out second to first. 3 RUNS, 4 HITS, 0 ERRORS, 2 LOB. LC 4th Inning: Benevides strikes out; Rouse lines out to Gilmore in center field; Appfel strikes out swinging, but has to be thrown out at first base on a ball in the dirt, Wills to Redding. 0 RUNS, 0 HITS, 0 ERRORS, 0 LOB. KC 4th Inning: Marshall singles to centerfield; Haggard and Gilmore strike out; Moore grounds out first unassisted. 0 RUNS, 1 HIT, 0 ERRORS, 1 LOB. LC 5th Inning: Latulippe singles and eventually scores on errors by Gould and Gilmore cutting the KC lead to 4-2. 1 RUN, 1 HIT, 2 ERRORS, 1 LOB. KC 5th Inning: Swindell is safe on a error by the first baseman; Atherton walks; Silberman sacrifices the runners to second and third. pitcher to first; Gould strikes out; Wills flys out to right field. 0 RUNS, 0 HITS, 1 ERROR, 2 LOB. LC 6th Inning: Eads walk; Benevides pops out to Marshall at short; Rouse’s popup near first base is misplayed, but Swindell alertly throws the ball to second base to force out Eads, Rouse is safe at first; Appfel strikes out. 0 RUNS, 0 HITS, 0 ERRORS, 1 LOB. KC 6th Inning: Marshall walks; Haggard is out on a line drive caught by the first baseman; Gilmore hits a double to right center scoring Marshall; Moore pops out to the shortstop; Swindell singles to right scoring Gilmore; Silberman doubles bringing in Swindell giving KC a 7-2 lead; Gould grounds out short to first. 3 RUNS, 4 HITS, 0 ERRORS, 2 LOB. LC 7th Inning: Latulippe strikes out on a pitch in the dirt, but is thrown out at first by Wills; Salinas strikes out; Brown strikes out giving KC the Section championship. 0 RUNS, 0 HITS, 0 ERRORS, 0 LOB. Line Score: Runs Hits Errors LOB League City 100 010 0 2 6 3 7 Kyle Chapman 103 003 x 7 9 3 7